Ex-Gateway Pastor Appears With Black Eye in New Texas Sex Offender Registry Photo After Check-In

A fresh photograph on the Texas Public Sex Offender Website shows former Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris with a black eye and swollen lip following his quarterly check-in in Palo Pinto County on 15 September 2026.

The image, uploaded after Morris's first verification appointment since registering as a sex offender in Texas in April, has drawn attention given his high-profile conviction for child sex abuse.

Morris founded Gateway Church in Southlake and led the megachurch for more than two decades before resigning in 2024. In October 2025, he pleaded guilty in Osage County, Oklahoma, to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, relating to abuse of Cindy Clemishire, whom Morris admitted abusing when she was 12. The abuse continued from 1982 to 1987.

He received a 10-year sentence with all but six months suspended, served six months in jail and was released in late March 2026. He remains on probation for nine and a half years and must register as a sex offender for life.

Attorney Cites Medical Incident Behind Black Eye

Morris's attorney, Bill Mateja, said that the injuries resulted from a medical incident, not an assault. According to Mateja, Morris was in his garage last week, leaned over to pick something up, then passed out as he stood. He struck a car door before falling onto the concrete floor. His wife, Debbie, was present.

Mateja said Morris was taken by ambulance to an emergency room, where doctors diagnosed three fractured facial bones.

Medical staff reportedly believed the fainting episode might have been triggered by taking blood-pressure medication on an empty stomach, compounded by standing quickly. 'This was a medical incident, and Pastor Robert is recovering,' Mateja said.

The Texas Department of Public Safety registry shows Morris lives in Graford, Palo Pinto County, and must verify his registration quarterly for life. The 15 September appointment marked his first such check-in since his release from an Oklahoma jail in March and his formal registration in Texas in April.

Clemishire Seeks Texas Supreme Court Review as Civil Case Advances

The developments surrounding Morris's injuries come as Cindy Clemishire seeks review by the Texas Supreme Court of an appellate ruling that dismissed most of her defamation claims against Gateway Church and its leaders.

The Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas ruled in August that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine barred the claims against Gateway and three church elders, finding that resolving them would improperly involve the courts in questions concerning church governance. The court did not rule on whether the challenged statements were defamatory or on the truth of the underlying abuse allegations.

Clemishire and her father filed a $1 million defamation lawsuit in Dallas County in June 2025 against Morris, his wife, Deborah Morris, Gateway Church and several current and former church leaders.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants made statements that defamed Clemishire in connection with the church's response to the revelations about Morris's abuse. Those allegations remain contested and should be attributed to the lawsuit rather than presented as established facts.

The appellate ruling did not determine whether the underlying abuse allegations were true or whether the challenged statements were defamatory. Rather, the court's ruling concerned whether the claims could proceed in civil court under the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine.

A separate ruling concerning Morris and other defendants left a limited claim against Morris relating to a 30 May 2025 affidavit.

As of 17 September 2026, Clemishire is asking the Texas Supreme Court to review the case. Her legal team is expected to file the petition on Thursday.

Morris's criminal case is separate from the civil litigation, though both concern the same underlying abuse scandal. He pleaded guilty in Oklahoma in October 2025 to five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child.

He was sentenced to 10 years, with all but six months suspended, and was ordered to pay $270,000 in restitution to Clemishire. He was released from jail in March 2026 and is serving the remainder of his sentence on probation, supervised by Texas authorities.